Exodus of Souls
by TearedPen
Summary: A mystery leads Ash's world to the edge of despair, and beyond it.


Pokemon: Exodus of Souls  
  
  
  
Ash's Youth  
  
  
  
The New Boss of Team Rocket, the self styled Master of Ceremonies, was just a  
  
room ahead. I had already lost Misty and Brock in the dread confines of this  
  
maze. It was just me with pikachu at my back, struggling to keep up, left to  
  
stop this mad fiend. Of what he had planned no one was sure but it was known  
  
that the greatest scientist in the world was helping him. With a challenge like  
  
this I hoped to gain world fame as the King of Pokemon, a title that the Master  
  
of Ceremonies held.  
  
With this in mind I burst into the darkly lit room expecting to be swarmed by  
  
guards but instead I discovered something for which I was not prepared. An  
  
arena had been set up. "I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU SILLY LITTLE BOY!" A voice  
  
thundered from nowhere. I realized almost immediately that it was the Master of  
  
Ceremonies. He sat above me in black clothing, not a black like dark black, but  
  
a hole in space, in life, in time. He wore a black cap and his face seemed  
  
nonexistent when I looked at him.  
  
"CARE TO DUEL ME? WELL THEN, I THINK WE SHALL HAVE A BET. IF YOU WIN THE WORLD  
  
SHALL BE SPARED AND TEAM ROCKET WITHDRAWN FROM ALL CORNER OF THE WORLD. IF YOU  
  
LOSE, YOU FOREVER GIVE UP POKEMON TRAINING." Overly confident in myself I  
  
accepted his challenge expecting an easy victory. Easy victory, I had never had  
  
one before. Why did I ever think I'd get one now?  
  
"The rules are simple. Each person uses one pokemon and one alone. No more, no  
  
less. The first one to fall loses. Agreed?" Chalk one up for pikachu I thought  
  
rashly, even arrogantly.  
  
"Let the duel begin." I choose pikachu while he did something unprecedented. He  
  
choose to battle with a black butterfree. I didn't even know they existed and  
  
then realized this may be one match I could not win.  
  
My first move was agility. If he could not hit pikachu then it would be easier  
  
for me. But it was not so. He opened up with Winds of Chaos. No matter where  
  
pikachu moved he couldn't dodge the drab maroon winds the encircled him. The  
  
force was so great I was knocked over. I was nearly flung out of the room had I  
  
not grabbed the first thing nailed down. The winds seemed to disturb logic,  
  
defying the laws of physics.  
  
Next I used thunder. His butterfree took the hit stoically. As pikachu pumped  
  
more power into the butterfree, at my command, the butterfree only seemed to  
  
absorb it. My thunder was returned with Dark Vengeance. A great blade of dark  
  
energy seeming range to all infinity formed and sliced pikachu to the core!  
  
"HAHAHA LITTLE ONE! HOW MUCH MORE CAN YOU TAKE!"  
  
Before I could utter a word of protest or command he prepared his last attack.  
  
"BLACK BUTTERFREE, USE HEARTLESS ANGEL, LET HIS PIKACHU DIE!" A mighty blue  
  
aura surrounded the butterfree. Slowly, an eternity it seemed, the aura came  
  
off the butterfree and condensed above it into a small blue orb. With a mighty  
  
roar the orb was let lose toward pikachu. In a last act of heroism, or was it  
  
stupidity, I leapt from the ledge I was on and took the blow for myself. I felt  
  
a great pain the orb burrowed into my chest. The last sound I heard, before I  
  
blacked out that is, was a hideous laughter and an order to begin project  
  
Alpha.   
  
When I came too I was lying in a bed in my house. Professor Oak standing over  
  
me examining my shirtless chest. Imbedded deep in it was a multifaceted blue  
  
gemstone. It emitted an eerie pallid glow as soon as I looked at it, a glow  
  
that emitted a wave of hatred, greed, anger, jealousy, prejudice, everything we  
  
fear. I was quickly overcome with a tremendous wave of nausea and ran to the  
  
bathroom.   
  
Once out I asked the professor what happened. "Well Ash, after your failure at  
  
Rocket Mountain Misty and Brock rescued you and took you here." When I started  
  
to babble about pikachu all I got in reply was "You have no pokemon Ash. You  
  
lost." Those words echoed through my mind. I lost, I lost, I lost. My pride, my  
  
ego were crushed, I felt the hope that was trapped fly away. I broke down  
  
almost immediately. I begged to see Misty and Brock but to no avail. "They left  
  
to fight the Rocket advance in their own towns. You see Ash, after you lost the  
  
duel pokemon near the mountain lost their minds and became slaves to Team  
  
Rocket."  
  
After hearing this I lost all hope. I knew my failure could mean that all  
  
could become nothing. "Our world, lying on the edge of yesterday, the verge of  
  
tomorrow, people seeking to change the future, to fix the past, without  
  
realizing that all they need do is watch the present." I mumbled to myself  
  
remembering words from a distant past, as it seemed to me. I looked to the past  
  
to command the future but completely forgot that I lived in the present.  
  
I made a final request of the professor before he left, I asked him if he knew  
  
what the crystal was. "I don't know Ash I'm sorry. But I feel a great enmity  
  
from it. Beware, keep it hidden, speak not of it." Just what I needed that day,  
  
more riddles. As Mom came in and helped me to my bed I felt relived to know  
  
that someone was still out there. I always wondered how many people were really  
  
out there to care for me. I gently lay to sleep like a person in their grave.  
  
Ash. My name? No. Something else. Fire. Death. Ash. Not my name. I awoke from  
  
my nightmare to see my house burning. As I sprang from my room to get outside I  
  
saw all of Pallet town burning. People were running as various fire pokemon ran  
  
amok. At the end of the road stood a man and a pikachu. The man shouted in an  
  
oddly familiar voice "DEATH TO THE OPPOSITION. THE PROJECT ALPHA SHALL CONQUER  
  
AND ENSLAVE." James! It was James and MY pikachu at the end of road! Pulling  
  
what was left of my shirt on I ran toward them. As I approached pikachu turned  
  
to James and began spouting something out.   
  
Once I was up to the I asked them what the hell they were doing, using vulgar  
  
language for the first time in my life. "So you came Ash. I have a show for  
  
you." James put a thunder stone near pikachu and I watched helpless as he  
  
evolved into a raichu, something he never did when he was with me. I demanded  
  
to see Professor Oak and my mom. "Oak left before we came but your mother is  
  
right here."  
  
My mother stepped forward in her slightly singed dress. "Ready for the show of  
  
a life time Ash?" Pikachu grabbed my mother and, raising him and herself into  
  
the air by an unknown force, began to slowly electrocute her. Her flesh began  
  
to brown and crinkle, and peeled off her body. The screams she sent out pierced  
  
my soul and I still remember them, no matter how hard I try to forget.  
  
It seemed like all time was a moment, a moment that spanned for eternity,  
  
echoing from darkness to darkness, until she died. My pikachu, evolved into a  
  
raichu, had just slowly murdered my mother. My mind broke, my heart broke, my  
  
spirit broke, but before my life broke A great form swopped down and spirited  
  
me off.  
  
It was Lugia. He had caught me in his mouth and was flying away with me. I  
  
screamed. I wanted to die. I begged to die. I wanted to die. But he wouldn't  
  
listen. Why! I screamed, cajoled, and begged to die but onward we flew to a  
  
great wall. The wall shimmered like a diamond in the moonlight, argent and cold.  
  
Before we got out of range I heard James's final screams. I could never tell  
  
were they screams of rage at losing me or where they screams at himself, at  
  
what he had become? A monster, a devourer of souls, an empty being. But who  
  
could tell at that point? Certainly not I, who hanging in physical form, fallen  
  
in life, forever falling in spirit, could tell a scream of rage from one of  
  
pain.  
  
Lugia carried me closer to the great wall. As we drew closer I saw it was a  
  
force field that was being constructed by Mr. Mimes! They were constantly  
  
repairing it to keep some unknown force at bay, and known one, the known being  
  
an army of pokemon. They were all dark in color, wielding a blue aura, much  
  
like the one the Black Butterfree had when it struck my chest with this  
  
accursed crystal. Immediately I felt ill. Not an ill as in stomach turning, but  
  
an ill like having no stomach. Like you were and weren't. I felt as though I  
  
was not part of time, reality, existence.  
  
As we flew over the wall I felt a cool relief pass over me, sparing me the  
  
agony of nonexistence. "I'm sorry for not having a chance to talk to you but we  
  
had to move quickly. I felt as though my mind was slipping away. I'm sorry  
  
about your mother but it was imperative that I save you. You know, you don't  
  
have to honor that bet you made, I'll be your pokemon from now on, but I will  
  
not stay in a pokeball." I heard Lugia's voice in my head and he seemed to  
  
really care, but, at the time, I didn't. All that mattered was ending my pain.   
  
As soon I thought this though, the crystal glowed brightly and I felt like  
  
everything was gone. I first saw only black, then I seemed to see everything as  
  
it went along. I cried out to Fate for these injustices to me. Out of the  
  
darkness spoke a voice so terrible it chilled my body and soul. "Fate, it is  
  
just a scapegoat. Gods are a way of never taking blame for the bad things in  
  
life. Learn well this lesson pitiful child who shall get no pity, TIME WAITS  
  
FOR NO ONE!" A surge of warmth brought me back to reality.  
  
"Are you all right?" Lugia seemed concerned about me and for once I cared  
  
about myself, or anything, which would not seem to happen again for a long  
  
time. "I know where the officers is in this city. I think we could convince  
  
them for room and board. This city is overwhelmed by refugees. There might be a  
  
camp we can stay at until we establish a permanent residence." I felt honored,  
  
and spiteful, for his tender care. How many people can say Lugia, a legendary  
  
pokemon, genuinely cared for them.  
  
As we walked down to the station I watched the people passing me by. Many  
  
seemed dirty and disheveled. Then again, it could have been the setting sun  
  
casting a dark shadow over the land. As we plodded along, moving inevitably  
  
toward the officer's station I looked around and saw something I had not  
  
noticed before. Hatred. People were glaring at each other. Some were sneering.  
  
A select few were out right swearing, but that didn't really affect me. All I  
  
cared about was the truth, and myself.  
  
As we reached the station there was a fervor of voices. As we drew closer I  
  
prepared myself to see anything, anything, but what I saw haunted me then and  
  
haunts me now. Looking back it all falls together, like the pieces of an almost  
  
completed puzzle. Yet still, I remember the confusion, the panic, the pain, the  
  
sorrow, all those torments we wish never to face, but always come face to face  
  
with.  
  
As I, along with Lugia, stepped into the station numerous screens were  
  
flashing various images of the outside, or perhaps another world. One man had  
  
just had his arm ripped off by a savage rocket and was being, most disgustedly,  
  
bludgeoned to death with it. Another flashed a familiar city. It was Pewter  
  
City! I asked a near by officer what was going on. "We are getting pictures of  
  
the war outside the Barrier. Now what are a kid and his pet bird doing in here  
  
get out!" I struggled against the officer's grip, vying for my right to see  
  
Brock. I cried out that he was my best friend.  
  
Another officer turned around after my shouting spree. In fact I was still in  
  
the middle of it, ignoring Lugia's incessant commands to calm down, the  
  
officer's struggles when she introduced herself to me. "Ash? I've heard of you  
  
from my cousins in other cities. I remember them mentioning Brock. I'll be more  
  
than willing to let you watch but, I don't know if you could stomach it. Things  
  
are getting extremely brutal outside. It's almost as though they were being  
  
reduced solely to their hatred."  
  
I walked over to the screen to see Mewoth speaking to Brock. I asked to we get  
  
sound and Jenny turned a knob to the bottom left of the screen. "Meowth, you  
  
little scoundrel what are you doing! Killing the innocent! What did they do to  
  
you! You'll pay!  
  
Go Onix, Geodude, Zubat, finish him. Onix Wrap! Geodude Rock Throw! Zubat  
  
Supersonic!" Meowth danced around the attacks like it was nothing at all.  
  
"Is that the best you can do little boy? MMEEOOWWTTHH, I'll make sure you can  
  
never show your foolery again!" With that statement Mewoth jumped onto to Brock  
  
slashing his face. After ripping his claws out, leaving great trails of blood  
  
streaming down Brock's cheeks. Then he slashed apart Brock's shirt knocking him  
  
to the ground, Then, in an agonizing period of time, the slowly cut an X into  
  
Brock's chest right above his heart. Finally, in a moment that will last  
  
forever in my mind, and perhaps the minds of the officers, and in Lugia's mind,  
  
Meowth plunged his clawed hand into Brock's chest forcing his heart out the  
  
other side. It beated three time before stopping, forever.  
  
The picture flashed to Cerulean city. I struggled to stand up after seeing  
  
that horrendous act. I prayed this picture would be one of victory, a scene of  
  
hope long set free returned again. What I got was another horrendous loss. The  
  
sins and terrors all chained together free to release chaos again. The picture  
  
was inside Misty's gym. I saw Misty fending off four rockets, Jesse amongst  
  
them. Misty shouted out her challenge. "You creeps. I thought you were a bunch  
  
a good for nothing pomeon thieves! But in truth you are cowards, in heart,  
  
mind, and soul."  
  
Jesse began laughing, a laugh I remembered, a dark voice, filled with ominous  
  
power. "Pathetic weakling, you have no right to live! I'll have life and  
  
replace it with death! Death, for death is what girls like you deserve, greedy  
  
slobs, mere mortals who rely on love and friendship to pull them through! I'll  
  
show you true power!" Jesse pulled out her trademark bazooka and loaded it with  
  
a strange missile, pointed at the end, like it was designed to inject  
  
something. With a great explosion the missile shot straight toward Misty. As  
  
soon it struck Misty fell over. She began to convulse, flesh growing purple and  
  
puffing up, she began to have her arms fling wildly. Blood trickled out of her  
  
overly large lips and her skin began to rip from the growth. The picture sent  
  
before they shut off the camera was Jesse laughing over Misty's fallen body,  
  
watching it be ripped apart by the explosion of size.  
  
On the edge of my hearing was voice, whispering dark words. "Little one, are  
  
you a lion? Are you a mouse? Do you stand stalwart in the face the the  
  
tribulations this world is soon to face? Will you cower away hiding in the  
  
shadows to save yourself? ARE YOU A BRAVE FOOL OR AN INTELLIGENT COWARD! LEGEND  
  
HATH RISEN UNTO FACT AND YET YOU COWER! A BEAST OF TERRIBLE AND UNIMAGINABLE  
  
POWER SHALL CONQUER. NOT HUMAN , NOT ALIVE, NOT DEAD, OLD AS LIFE, OPPOSITE TO  
  
LIFE YET PART OF IT! CAN YOU SOLVE THE RIDDLE OF PANDORA! To this day the line  
  
confuses me. I didn't know back then, and don't truely understand now, what  
  
Pandora is.  
  
I had to be dragged out by the officer's to place where I could stay for the  
  
night after the ordeal. All I remeber from that time till my early adulthood  
  
was death, fear, pain, addiction, the Master of Ceremonies, and the Riddle of  
  
Pandora. 


End file.
